The Post Is Really Looking Forward To Increased Bike Law Enforcement

The Post‘s inter-borough wire services finally caught wind of Wednesday’s news that the NYPD has begun an effort to increase enforcement of traffic laws as they apply to the previously un-policed, steadily growing Brooklyn cyclist population. And boy are they ever excited. This morning’s Post piece has its obligatory hipster-baiting moment:

Patrols will especially focus on Downtown Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope and Williamsburg, where cycling has become a primary means of transportation for many hipsters and other residents.

More promising, though, is the assertion made by an anonymous officer in Williamsburg that “It’s from now until forever; there is no set time. Bicyclists should travel like vehicles and must obey the same laws,” which suggests that this won’t be a tokenistic and temporary quota-backed initiative, but rather a more sustained goal to enforce traffic laws as they apply to cyclists about as stringently as they’re enforced for motor vehicles (which is to say, well, not all that stringently, but at least a little, sometimes). And to whom do we owe this stepped-up enforcement? Stroller moms! “Most complaints, a source said, have come from stroller moms saying they’ve been hit or cut off by two-wheelers riding on sidewalks.” All this story needs is a quote from an Oberlin grad who runs an artisanal pickling business in his Bushwick loft and delivers by bike, and we’ll have the perfect storm of Brooklyn trend pieces. (Brownstoner)